


Tell Her Your Story

by SecretNerdPrincess



Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Angst, Garcy Happy Ending, Lorynn, garcy, what if
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-28 18:11:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17792267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecretNerdPrincess/pseuds/SecretNerdPrincess
Summary: Jiya knows how to save Rufus, she just needs Flynn to reset the timeline, saving his wife and daughter in the process.Garcia Flynn never thought he'd face the choice between the life he knew and the life Rittenhouse stole from him. Can he let go of a future with Lucy Preston for a chance to hold Lorena and Iris again?Lucy won't keep him from them even if saying goodbye means being the sole survivor of an abandoned timeline.





	Tell Her Your Story

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RedGold](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedGold/gifts).



> set after 2x10 Chinatown before future Lucy and Wyatt show up.  
> The movie does not exist. 
> 
> For @RedGold who pointed out there's not near enough fics that save Lorena and Iris. This is for you.  
> Thanks for the inspiration.

_May 18, 2018_

“Flynn.” Lucy left her seat on the floor and followed after his retreating form. “Flynn, wait. Please.”

He slowed to a stop in front of his room, hesitant to face her. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“You didn’t.” She laid a hand on his arm, drawing him around. “Did you need something?”

“I came to see how you were,” he lied, the words choking him. He reached up to brush his fingers across her cheekbone, but changed his mind, letting his hand fall to his side. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to you sooner. Emma--”

“You were there when it mattered.” Lucy dipped her head, a strand of hair falling to veil her injuries. “I’m fine.”

“Well, that’s good. I’m glad.” Flynn started to turn away, pulling open his door. “I’ll let you get back to it, then.”

She didn’t want him to disappear, hiding away from her. “We never finished our conversation.”

He hovered just inside the frame, bracing his arms to keep from crushing her to his chest. Aching to confess. No, he wouldn’t burden her with goodbye. Let this timeline disappear without her waiting for its end.

“Another time,” he lied again. “Wyatt’s waiting.”

“I don’t give a damn about Wyatt.” She echoed his earlier words and ducked around him into his room. Lifting his hoodie from the chair, she seated herself, waiting for him to speak. He closed the door.

“Why are you here, Lucy?” Remembering the answer that floated to his lips when she asked him in San Francisco. Before everything went to hell.

“I’m here because I want answers. From you. Your turn.” A quick smile played at her lips. He was about to offer her an offhanded remark when she asked again. “Why are you here?”

She looked so tiny, curled into the chair, clutching his hoodie to her middle. Protecting herself against his words. Something tugged inside him at her plea for understanding. Who knew how the world would change when he returned.

What if this was his last chance to say it?  

“Every since that smoky bar in Sao Paulo, I’ve known I’d never let you fight alone.” He knelt down in front of her, unwinding her hands from the fabric. “I’m here for you, Lucy.”

She wrapped her fingers around his. “Then tell me the truth. You’ve never lied to me before, don’t start now. Not when we’re so close--” The way he held her in the alley swept over her and she wanted to crawl into his arms and stay there for a lifetime. “You’re trying to protect me, I can tell by the way your eyes dart around the room. But I don’t need protection, I need honesty.”

He gave in and ran his gaze over her face, took in the injuries, the concern gathered in the corners of her eyes. She was right. She deserved the truth.

“When you showed up in my life, I’d lost everything I’d ever held dear to me. But there you were, offering me the hope that one day we could save the people we loved. Somewhere along the way your life became as precious to me as theirs. I never dared believe you could love me back, but I believed I could stand by your side as long as you wanted me there.”

He allowed his hand to lift to her chin, his thumb tracing gentle over her lips, feeling her quick intake of breath. His fingers curled and withdrew.

“I never thought I’d have to choose.”

A spike of anxiety lit through her. “Choose?”

Flynn rose and backed away, needing distance. “Jiya came to me. She figured out a way to save Rufus. She wants me to reset the timeline.” He froze in place forcing himself to look directly at her. “By saving Lorena and Iris.”

Lucy steeled herself. He should, of course, save his family. _Even if it means you never meet?_ Her breaking heart taunted her. Could she live without ever knowing him? Forgetting everything they’ve shared? _Absolutely._

“I can save them, but lose you.” Joy warred with anguish, burning through his veins.

“It’s what you’ve been fighting for all along.” She stood, reaching. “They never deserved what happened to them.”

Lucy folded herself into his arms, his body a shield against an uncertain future. His fingers threaded through her hair as she lost herself in the rise and fall of his breath.

“How am I supposed to let you go?” he whispered against the crown of her head.

She pulled back, propping her chin on his chest. “Lorena and Iris will be waiting for you.”

“Even if I return from the mission to a world where we’re strangers, I’ll never forget you.”

The last of her heart crumbled to dust. He would remember her, but she had no such guarantees. She thought of all the wasted time they spent as enemies when they could’ve been so much more. He would leave her with nothing but an emptiness she couldn’t shake.  

Another thought overwhelmed her. “But what happens when you get back? You told me once, you didn’t think you could go back to them after all you’d done. Do you still believe that?”

He stiffened. “I do.”

“So you get to save their lives only to let them go again?”

He stepped out of the comfort of her arms. “It wouldn’t be fair to them. My soul’s been touched by darkness. One day I’d be the man they remembered: lighthearted, happy, so sure of the future. Then one day that man disappears. Replaced with the man that stands in front of you. I’m broken, Lucy, but I can do this one last thing. I can save Lorena and Iris. I can save Rufus.”

“No.” Iron threaded through her statement.

“I’m sorry, what?” Flynn hadn’t expected any kind of argument. She agreed he should save his family, so, “No?”

“No,” she repeated, hands fisted at her sides. “After everything we’ve already lost? You return from the mission and your reward is remembering the timeline where your family was brutally murdered and then giving up the family you just saved?”

She closed the distance between them, invading his space, and his breath caught.

“And you weren’t going to tell me. You were going to let me forget about you and never say goodbye.”

Flynn could feel how tightly wound she held herself. “I was going to tell you.”

“When? When were you going to tell me?” She stared up at him, refusing to blink. “I’ll tell you when. When it was too late.”

“I wanted to give you as much time with Wyatt as possible.”

“You’re a fool, Garcia Flynn.” Lucy laid a hand on his chest. “What if that isn’t what I wanted?”  

“I thought--” he swallowed, correcting himself, “I didn’t think. I’m sorry. Tell me what you want, Lucy.”

“I love you, Garcia Flynn and I’d like you to let me help you save your family.”

She pushed up onto tiptoe and brushed her lips against his, her pulse quickening as his lips parted and met hers. She’d remember that it felt like falling into eternity.

“Let me go instead,” she whispered against his searching mouth. “I love you, let me do this for you.”

He stilled, bringing his forehead to hers. “I couldn’t ask that of you.”

“You’re not asking.” She traced her fingers down his cheeks. “They deserve the best chance to be happy. That’s with the father they know and love.”

“You have no idea what world you’ll come back to.” His hands tightened on her shoulders. “You’ll be the only one to remember this timeline.”

“I’ll remember you.”

 _xxxxx_ _  
_ _September 12, 2014_

Sitting on a bench overlooking the ocean, a salty breeze playing through her hair, Lucy waited, anxious. Any minute now, he would join her on this bench. Choosing to spend a late afternoon hour away from the office to clear his head. He would sit down next to her and she would change the course of his entire life.

Flynn gave her everything she needed to find him in 2014. He entrusted her with his family, she wouldn’t let him down.

When he finally appeared, his lightness stunned her. Gone was the weight of the fight against Rittenhouse. He smiled at her as he approached the bench.

He indicated the empty space she’d left for him. “Mind if I join you?”

He looked so happy, it made the mission that much easier. Even if she never saw him again after this, this happiness mattered.

“Please do.”

The waves beat against the cliff a hundred feet below them and she let this last bit of peace wash over her. She and Flynn had argued about when she should make contact in the past. She wanted to stop him from ever discovering Rittenhouse at all. He wanted her to wait until he had enough evidence.

In the end, they left it to the universe. Fate versus destiny. Was it fated they meet? Destiny that they fight together, side by side, saving history?

“Garcia Flynn.” The man next to her tensed. “My name is Lucy Preston and I need you to listen to me.”

He turned to face her full on and she saw her Flynn swimming just below the surface.

“Why?”

“You stumbled upon a bank account routed through the Cayman Islands today?” He nodded. “But you haven’t yet traced its origins. Am I correct?”

“You are.” He scooted closer to her, reaching for his weapon. “Tell me what you know.”

“The people you’re looking into are dangerous. Far more dangerous than you could ever expect. If you keep digging, they’ll come for your family and frame you for their murders. This is not hyperbole, it will happen. I can’t tell you to stop looking into them. That’s a choice you have to make on your own. But before anything else-- _anything else_ \--you have to get your family to safety.”

“Why should I believe you?” He raised a skeptical eyebrow. “How do I know you’re not just crazy?”

Lucy slipped her fingers into the pocket of her jeans. She opened her hand, his simple gold wedding band resting on her palm.

“Where’d you get that?” he bit out, resisting the urge to snatch it from her.

She offered it to him and he took it, turning it gently in his fingers. “You gave it to me when I asked you if I could help save your family.”

Decision made, he nodded and handed it back. “Okay. I don’t understand, but I believe you.”

She breathed a sigh of relief, returning the ring to her pocket, not wanting to part with it. On the off chance the worst happened, she still had one thing that belonged to him. She stood, remembering the race against time. Jiya hadn’t been able to pinpoint how long she could dabble in her past. Anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour before the effects kicked in.

She glanced at her watch as the first bolt of lightning shot through her brain. Twenty-three minutes. The effects would snowball once they first appeared. The timeline trying to adjust to the same time signature occupying two separate spaces. She needed to get back to the Lifeboat.

“I’m sorry, I have to go. Just--” She bent down, grabbing his hand, “before you do anything else, get Lorena and Iris to safety. Whether you join the fight or not, that’s up to you. You should go live a quiet life somewhere. I wouldn’t blame you.”

“But you’re still fighting?”

“I am. This fight is written into my bones. There’s no escaping it for me. There is for you.” She swallowed so many words that beat for freedom, they’d risked too much already. “Goodbye, Garcia Flynn.”

_xxxxx_

He asked for a leave of absence and took his girls home to Croatia. They spent two blissful months together. Long enough to get Lorena and Iris settled with his mother in their house so far off the grid, no one would find it. But he couldn’t stop thinking about Lucy Preston. What happened if he never joined the fight? Without her intervention his life would look very different right now, he understood that on a molecular level.Could he abandon her after she helped him save his family?

He couldn’t. It was as simple as that. He explained to Lorena as best he could. Promised Iris he’d see her real soon. His wife supported him, as he expected.. She fell in love with the man who fought for what he believed in. Who would he become if he turned his back on that now?

So he went back in, following the money to Connor Mason. In between trips home to Croatia, falling into Lorena’s arms and basking in Iris’ smile, he dug into Mason industries until he happened upon the name Rittenhouse. He recharged his soul with these trips, thankful for every single second, but the more he learned, the harder it was to pull away.

During family dinner, he pretended the fight hadn’t begun to consume him, when in reality, he worried he wasn’t doing enough to stop them. He needed to get closer to uncover the truth. So he worked his way up through the ranks, the secrets revealed one layer at a time. Until the day he stood in front of an honest to god time machine. Then he knew he’d stop at nothing to thwart their plans. He went back home one last time.

_“Please, don’t do this, ‘Cia. This fight. It’s tearing you apart.”_

_“How can I walk away knowing what I know?"_

_“What do you know? Explain it to me. I can’t live like this, I need to understand. Every time you come back it’s like pieces of you are missing. I can’t watch you disappear.”_

He’d held Lorena all night, begging her to understand. He couldn’t walk away. Mason wanted him on the team and it was his chance.

_“Stay with me. With Iris.”_

_“I can’t.”_

In the end, he promised her he’d return as soon as he could, though he had no idea how long that would be. Despite everything else, she swore she’d wait for him, but Flynn knew he’d broken something between them.

Two days later, he stole a time machine.

 _xxxxx_ _  
_ _October 8, 1871_

Chicago burned behind me the first time I met Garcia Flynn. I’d been recruited by Homeland Security and sent on a mission to stop him from running roughshod over history. Instead, I inadvertently helped an evil organization burn down an entire city so they could own it from the foundation up.

Not one of my best days.

At least now we know it wasn’t Mrs. O’Leary’s cow.

Flynn tried to tell me, standing in front of the post office as it reduced to ashes, but I wouldn’t listen. Why would my government lie to me?

_“I think the two of us should talk, don’t you, Lucy Preston?”_

_“How do you know my name?”_

Flynn towered over me, but I felt less fear than I normally would. Less that I should’ve at the moment standing across from a bonafide terrorist.

_A warm smile crossed his face. “Two years ago you helped me save my family.”_

_She whipped her head around, looking for Wyatt or Rufus. “That’s not possible. We’ve never met before.”_

_“You haven’t met me before. But I, most certainly, have met you.” He closed the distance between them. “And I’m here to tell you, you’re fighting on the wrong side of history.”_

_“Says the man who just started the Great Chicago Fire.” Lucy gestured wildly at the encroaching flames._

_“Nope.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I was trying to stop those men.”_

_“Those men we_ rescued _?” Lucy thought back. The only thing they’d known when they burst into the barn was that Garcia Flynn was the enemy._

_“Those men you rescued. Did you think they just accidently dropped those lanterns because all five foot five of you blundered onto the scene?”_

Oops _.”Well, how was I to know?”_

_He smirked. “You could’ve tried talking before your gunslinger started flinging bullets in my direction.”_

_Said gunslinger decided to show back up right then and Flynn went for his weapon the instant Wyatt raised his._

_“I suppose that’s enough chit-chat for this time, Lucy Preston.” He kept his eyes on Wyatt, but lowered his voice so only Lucy could hear. “I’ll see you in 1865_.”

_“Get away from him, Lucy,” Wyatt yelled as he crept towards them._

I remember the way the air whooshed from my lungs when Flynn grabbed me and pulled my body in front of his. Remember the exhaled _bastard_ as Wyatt shot at the two of us and Flynn flung me out of the way, taking the bullet himself. I couldn’t have known then what he’d come to mean to me, to all of us.

So why am I finally putting this all down? Long after we met on that fiery battlefield?

I’m living on borrowed time.

One day the me that saved Flynn’s family will return. No one will know anything different. Jiya thinks the universe will self-correct. When that Lucy returns, everyone around me will just think I’ve returned from another mission. But I will disappear and she will step into a life she doesn’t recognize. Did she love him as much as I do? I think she must have. She saved his family after all.

So I’m writing this for her. For me. For us. This is my love letter to the life she never lived.

 _xxxxx_ _  
_ _July 29th, 1806_

The first time he confessed his fear for Lorena and Iris, we’d just embarked on a long journey to deliver Aaron Burr’s letter to General Wilkinson in Louisiana. Rittenhouse killed Samuel Swartwout in an attempt to destabilize a fledgling United States by fomenting Burr’s revolution.

You know, the usual.

I don’t know what made me suggest we take the long way instead of just popping forward in the Lifeboat, but I’m glad I did. I learned so much about Garcia Flynn in those two months spent traveling through untamed America.

Late one night, sitting around the remains of the fire when neither of us could sleep, he admitted he worried about what would happen to Lorena and Iris if he was taken prisoner. Or god forbid, died.

_“Where are they?”_

_He poked at the coals. “With my mother in Croatia.”_

_“How will I find them?”_

_Lucy didn’t want to push him, especially when it came to his family. She knew how protective he was of them. It’s one of the things that drew her to him._

_He turned, his face barely visible in the low light. “There’s a copy of Utopia in my room. You’ll find the address in there. Karl will go with you to stay behind with my mother, she'll never leave the house my father built. He’s already been asked.”_

_She glanced at the blond man asleep across the way. She barely knew Karl, but if Flynn trusted him._

_“I’ll make sure they’re safe. No matter what.”_

No matter what turned out to be a few months later when Rittenhouse arranged to have Flynn arrested.

_“You promised, Lucy. Remember you promised,” he pleaded with her as they dragged him away, “I’m trusting you.”_

As if I could forget my promise to him. Jiya. Karl, and I left immediately and had Lorena and Iris tucked into the bunker by bedtime the next night.

It took me six months to figure out how to rescue Flynn, but by the time team arranged his escape, Lorena and Iris had woven themselves into our lives.

 _xxxxx_ _  
_ _March 25, 2018_

“To think I escaped prison for this.”

Flynn strode into the bunker like he owned the place. Lorena and Iris burst into motion, throwing themselves into his arms. That he considered them precious, obvious in the cradle he made of his arms, kissing both his girls.  

Lucy didn’t understand the emptiness she felt when she looked at them. She wanted Flynn to be happy. His family meant the world to him. Maybe she was tired.

Flynn raised his head as she passed him. “Thank you, Lucy.”

“You’re welcome.”

He watched as she left and knew he owed her a debt for keeping Lorena and Iris safe. The team slowly dissolved into their various spaces and he was left just holding his family. Content that they were back with him.

He looked back down at his wife. “I’m here now, we can make this better between us. I’m gonna make it better.”

“We’re all together now. That’s what matters.” Lorena kissed him and withdrew from his embrace, heading to the kitchen. “Are you hungry? You must be hungry.”

“Sure.” He followed behind, unsure.

Lorena rifled through the refrigerator coming back out with overflowing arms.

“Is everything okay?” He stopped a few feet away, feeling helpless.

“Yes, of course. I just thought you’d be hungry.”

“Lor? What’s wrong? Talk to me.”

She sighed. “Please, not now. You just got back. Let me feed you. We can talk later, okay?

He gave in, wanting the peace as much as she did, and they sat down as a family for reheated casserole while Iris told them all about her new friends Jiya and Connor and Mrs. Denise.

The clattering of the dishes as they washed up sounded too bright against the empty space.

Garcia finally broke the silence. “We can make this work, Lorena, we can.”

“I wanna believe that. I do.” Passing him a plate, she submerged her hands again, keeping her eyes on the soapy water. “Before the team swept in and brought us here, I thought I was done.”

Shock flashed across his face. “Don’t be done. Please, Lorena.”

She studied his eyes, saw the hesitation buried beneath their lives together, the love they’d shared over a decade. And then his belief. In them. That they could move past this growing apart. She wanted to believe him. She wanted that love back. Wanted to feel needed again. But the hesitation was still there. Even if he didn’t know it himself.

“Just give me more time.”

 _xxxxx_ _  
_ _April 15, 2018_

I never meant to fall in love with Flynn. Somewhere between waking and finding him gone and Jess joining the search for Kennedy, I realized the truth. I missed him. Not his snark. Not his last minute axe saves, though I quite enjoyed those. No, I just missed his steady presence at my back.

Which, as you can imagine made things inconvenient since I really liked his wife. No, really, I’m not just saying that. She’s funny and kind and always down for a terrible movie night.

Before today, I lived in the land of plausible deniability. Could I continue to be her friend knowing I loved her husband?

I decided it changed nothing. I could be a grown-up and keep my secrets to myself. No one needed to know I was in love with Flynn. I could hide it. Right?

Apparently not.

 _“He’s okay.” Lucy wrestled her focus from_ It Happened One Night. _Lorena extended a beer in her direction. “Garcia. He’s okay. I thought you’d want to know.”_

_She accepted the bottle. “Yes. Thanks. That’s good to know.”_

_“Underneath it all, he’s a good man.” Lorena settled on the couch next to her. “I don’t think he lets you see it too much--”_

_“I see it,” she answered too quickly._

_Lorena smiled and sipped her beer. “Cia and I met in Somalia. Every day felt like it could be our last, but somehow we found each other in the midst of it all. We were married in a tent with mosquito netting by the chaplain of a faith neither of us worshipped, but it didn’t matter. When I got pregnant with Iris, he sent me home right away and followed shortly after. Left the military. Went into the private sector. He wanted to do right by us.”_

_Lucy curled into the corner, fascinated. “Of course. He couldn’t have done anything else.”_

_“No, he couldn’t. Just like when he started looking into Rittenhouse. Once he saw their plans, he had to fight them. That’s the man he’s always been.”_

_The man he’s always been...Lucy wondered how much Lorena knew about the other timeline. The team had explained about time travel when they brought them in the best they could. It’s not like they could hide the Lifeboat. But it’s also not like they’d figured out much themselves. A future version Lucy showed up in the past to warn Flynn about Rittenhouse’s plans to kill his family. Thus negating one timeline and creating another._

_“I know you saved us.” Lorena set her bottle down on the coffee table and tucked one leg under her, turning to face her. “I don’t claim to understand much, but I see the connection between you two.” She held up a hand when Lucy made to argue. “There’s no accusation here. Just a statement. The man I love came home from a war for me. The man you love went to war for you. All of us just want to be happy.”_

_xxxxx_ _  
_ _April 22, 2018_

“Uncle Mason!” Iris dropped her crayons at the whirring whooshing sound, rifling through a pile of drawings to choose the right one, and bounced over to wait for the Lifeboat to materialize.

Lorena joined her daughter as Jiya guided the time machine back into place. She waited for the release of air that meant she’d know they’d all come back in one piece.

All smiles, the team climbed down the stairs, their joy pouring out before them. Garcia’s grin bigger than she’d seen it in months. Lucy blushing in her rush to look away. Warmth spread through her at their happiness and the surprise of her own when she locked eyes with Connor. She never thought of him that way, had she? Sure, they’d spent nights playing Scrabble waiting for the team to return. Conversations that meandered as they would as she refilled their coffee, Connor insisting on best two games out of three.

“Hi Daddy! Lucy!” The little girl tugged her father down for a kiss on the cheek, but then focused all her attention on Connor. “Look what I made you!”

She held up a picture of a treehouse with a slide next to a swingset. He bent down as he took it reverently, holding it up to admire.

“Is this the one we talked about?”

Iris’ head bobbed up and down. “It’s not finished yet. But I wanted you to see it.”

Lorena watched the interchange with a kind of awe. She’d worried that bringing Iris into the bunker, below ground without any other children or sunshine, would affect her precocious nine year old. But the little girl just took it in stride. Adding the team to her idea of family.

“She seems to be adapting okay?” Garcia stopped next to her, pulling her into a quick kiss hello.

“She does.” Iris’ laugh echoed through the bunker as Connor threw her over his shoulder and plopped back down in her chair. “I didn’t know if it’d work, but I think she likes it.”

Garcia’s eyes skittered to the side as Lucy passed on her way to the kitchen, just a glance, but Lorena saw it.

“Hey,” she laid a hand on his forearm, “can we talk later?”

“Sure, of course. Whatever you need.”  

Later that night, long after the bunker had fallen to stillness, in the quiet of their room, Lorena pulled his face into her hands, falling into the comfort his lips, remembering their lives together. Sadness permeated her goodbye.

“You know I love you,” she burrowed her face into his neck.

“I do.” He tucked her hair behind her ear, kissing her forehead. “And I love you.”

“I need more, Garcia.” She pulled back, framing his face with her fingers. “And so do you.”

He wrapped his arms around her. “No, Lorena, we can do this. I just need time to finish this fight. The team needs me.”

“Lucy needs you.” Lorena refused to let him look away, to deny what she’d seen simmering below the surface. “And you need her. I can’t be the woman who runs into the fire anymore, Garcia, she can. I’m happy at home. I’m happy with the peace. But I won’t stand in your way. I know the man I fell in love with, I’ve always accepted you. Now I’m asking you to accept me.”

Tears crested his eyelids, “I wanted this to work. I never expected any of this.”

“I know you didn’t. Life happens. We’re not in our twenties anymore, we’re different people.” Her thumb wiped away an errant tear from his cheek. “But accept that I need something quieter now. We can both be happy, we just have to allow it. We can cling to what was or we can see what might be. I made my choice. Now you just need to make yours.”

 _xxxxx_ _  
_ _May 8, 2018_

I’ve told you all the stories save one. The story of why I started writing in this journal, an inheritance I willingly pass on to you. Everything that comes after is one day at a time. I’m not playing catch-up anymore.

I didn’t understand why Denise gave me the zip drive that night at dinner. Not at first. Not even when I knew she’d given it to me to take it back thirty years. Pressing play when the universe needed me to.

No, not even when we returned home to find her waiting, everything as it should be. It wasn’t until everyone else should’ve been asleep that I couldn’t stop thinking about the life she almost lost.

_Lucy stirred the tea, mixing the creamer in lazy swirls. She thought about Denise. Had Lucy returned to find she failed, the older woman would’ve lost her world and never known. Her wife. Her children. An entire lifetime of memories._

_Just gone._

_She thought about Amy, the sister who thought she was dead. What if she just woke up one day and never even knew she existed. She’d want something to remind her. To keep her fighting._

_The future version of Lucy waited, just in the wings, to take over her story. How would she know how much she loved Lorena’s carefree kindness, Mason’s quiet humor, Denise’s steadfast loyalty. How would she know to bring Jiya chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream when she and Rufus fought? Did her Jiya even like chocolate chip cookie dough? Maybe she liked sherbert?_

_How would she know what she and Flynn had been through?_

_“I think the tea is stirred,” he stilled her hand with his._

_She just stared at it. He never willingly touched her. Neither of them did. They had an unspoken agreement. She pulled away and crossed the room to sit at one of the tables. He leaned against the sink, knowing she needed time to sort her thoughts._

_“One day I’ll just be gone.” She scrubbed at her eyes, didn’t want to cry since there’s nothing she could do. “All my memories. The team. Lincoln. Annie Oakley. Houdini. Emma Goldman. The Trail of Tears. Everything we’ve been through together. Ephemeral. Just poof and then gone. Another me steps in with her own memories of a life that disappeared.”_

_She fell quiet, wanting to curl into his arms, but she couldn’t allow the weakness._

_The chair across from hers scraped as Flynn pulled it out and sat down in front of her. He didn’t reach for her this time, just settled his hands on the table, twisting his fingers together._

_“There’s nothing we can do to stop what’s coming. We’d be foolish to deny it. But you can help her by giving her your memories.” She leaned forward, drawn to the hope in his voice. “You still have the journal your mother gave you, right?”_

_“Yes, it’s one of the few things I had a chance to grab before we went underground.”_

_His eyes crinkled with the soft smile he offered her. “Tell her your story.”_

_xxxxx_ _  
_ _May 19, 2018_

Lucy couldn’t move. She had no idea what world waited for her outside of the single door of the Lifeboat. No one tried to unbuckle her seatbelt, despite the fact that she was utterly capable of doing it herself. Rufus wasn’t there to make a nerdy quip about saving the world. Again. No Flynn who loved her waiting outside the door. Flynn who held her like she was precious.

Lorena and Iris. She did it to give his family back to him.

The door hissed its release and her breath stuck in her throat. The kitchen tables came into view and she heard more than saw the ladder being rolled up to the opening.

“Lucy’s back! Lucy’s back!” A little girl’s voice filtered into the machine.

 _Iris?_ Had she succeeded? Her heart dropped into her stomach at the thought. If Iris was here, that had to mean--

_Flynn…_

She poked her head out and he waited at the bottom of the stairs, one hand on the railing, one tucked into his pocket.

“Everything okay there, Lucy?”

She blinked back tears taking him in. Taking in the rest of the group. Denise. Rufus and Jiya. Oh Rufus. Alive and happy. Rufus. Jess and Wyatt. Mason and a dark-haired woman. The little girl, her face so like Flynn’s, standing next to her father. They were all okay.

“Iris?”

She looked to Flynn for confirmation. His face fell as he saw her confusion. She wanted his comfort. Yesterday they kissed for the first time and today they were strangers. He read her like they weren’t from different timelines.

“Yes, this is Iris.” His daughter ducked behind him, unsure. “It’s okay, Iris, sweetheart. Me and Lucy just need to talk, that’s all. Why don’t you go play with Mason and Mommy?”

She watched as Iris ran into her mother’s arms, burying her face in her stomach. _Lorena._ She’d known, but she wanted a few seconds to believe in her happy ending. Lorena just smiled at her and bent down to hug her daughter.

Flynn stood patient below her, hand outstretched, but she didn’t know if she should take it..

His eyes crinkled like her Flynn’s did, the soft smile just the same. “It’s okay, Lucy. I promise. I need to show you something.”

Her hand slid into his and it felt like home.

Lucy followed him through the people she considered family that stared at her like she was a ghost. She felt like one. The only thing tethering her to reality was the heat of Flynn’s palm against hers. They came to his room and he opened the door, indicating she should go in. It looked the same as she remembered. His hoodie crumpled in the chair, book set aside for later. She nearly cried for the comfort of it all.

Flynn followed behind, kneeling down on the bed and pulling a leather journal from the nook there.

She sat down hard in the chair, pulling his hoodie against her out of habit. She knew that journal.

He perched on the edge of the bed. “You’re the Lucy who came to me in 2014, the one who saved my family.” He didn’t need confirmation, but she gave it to him anyway, nodding since she didn’t trust her voice. “We planned for this day.”

 _We. He said we._ She tried to tamp down her hope, maybe they just made a great team. They obviously worked together, no need to jump to any conclusions.

“She wanted you to have this.” He leaned over, placing a hand on her bouncing knee and handing over the journal. “Wanted you to know about the life you made possible.”

Lucy took the book from him, tentative, but curious. She needed to know the sacrifice had been worth it. Everything they’d given up.

“Read it. If you have any questions after, I’ll be here.” He made to get up as if it only just occurred to him that she might not want him around. “Unless you’d rather be alone...”

Tucking her legs underneath her, Lucy cracked open the first page. “Please, stay. I need to know I’m real. I don’t know if I can ask that of you, if you and Lorena…”

Flynn grabbed his book from beside her. “Just read. I’ll be here.”

 _xxxxx_ _  
_ _May 18, 2018_

Sometimes I don’t know who’ve I’ve become. What this fight has done to me. But when I lay breaking in the dirt, firing empty bullets at Emma’s retreating figure, Flynn cradled me and all the words we never said thrashed in their cages. I think it’s always been the two of us fighting together. Who knows how many Flynns and Lucys are running around the timelines. Falling in love and saving the universe.

 _“You believe in fate. In meant to be.”_ I’m standing across from him, offering him hope, begging him to take it. He doesn’t have to kill that child. _Remember Iris. Lorena._ Remember me, I left unsaid. Pulling him back from the edge. The fight consuming him. _Come back to me._ I plead with him until he collapses in my arms.

I want you to know this man. I’ve fought for his soul beside him. He’s picked up mine and dusted it off, giving it back to me, stronger for his care.

 _“What if he led you to me?”_ I needed him as much as he needed me. We found each other in the madness of the storm. He used his heart to shield mine and I protected him from his worst demons. Somehow we’re still standing here.

 _“Why are you here?”_ I love you. I’m here for you. I’m here for this fight. I want to say all of this but I don’t. If you could see his face as he kneels, words pushing for freedom, how he hesitates and we’re interrupted and it’s gone.

 _“Flynn…”_ His arms protecting me. I’m not alone. Not alone. I’ll never be alone as long as he has breath in his body. I know this now. _“I love you,”_ I confess, clinging to him. _“I’m sorry, I love you. I tried not to.”_

He dries her tears even as his own fall onto her cheeks. _“Moja duša, I love you. I’m here.”_

_xxxxx_

She closed the last page and slid down to the floor in front of the bed. Flynn tucked his book into a corner and turned over onto his side to face her.

“She loved you.”

He slid his hands under his pillow to keep from touching her. “She did.”

“And you loved her?”

“I did.”

“So much of our lives stayed the same.” A lock of hair fell over his forehead and she resisted the urge to brush it away. “I met my Flynn at the Hindenburg.”

He chuckled. “You should have seen your face when you realized you actually started the Great Chicago Fire.”

Lucy swatted at his arm. “It’s not funny, Flynn.”

He continued laughing. “It kind of is, though.”

“It kinda is,” she conceded. “So you and Lorena…” she let her question trail off.

“No, we’re not. We’re friends...but no.” Relief flooded her system. “Lucy and I had only just talked. “

“When?”

“Yesterday.” He closed his eyes, lost to a past she’d never know.

“Yesterday.” The first day she kissed her Flynn. The last day. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I got to tell her how I felt.” He finally withdrew a hand, his fingers tracing down her jaw. “We agreed to wait. She didn’t want you to feel obligated.”

“You worried that one day you might wake up and I wouldn’t love you anymore.” She knew that feeling only too well. Taking his hand, she pressed a kiss to his palm. “I’m worried too. My Flynn--it was very new.”  

He sat up on the bed, tugging her up next to him, never releasing her hand. His fingers, rough and calloused like her Flynn’s. The same, endless hazel eyes that looked at her like he discovered sunshine. She leaned forward for just a taste of his lips and as she pulled away he captured her mouth with his, tentative at first, discovering, questioning. Seeking the woman he knew yesterday.

Her fingers covered her lips as they parted, closing her eyes as she remembered eternity.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn't have. I couldn’t resist.” Opening her eyes, she found him staring at her in wonder.

He wound their fingers together. “It’s okay.”

“I didn’t even know if you’d be here when I got back.” Lucy bit her lip and blinked back tears. “If I’d come back to a world where we never met after that first time.”

“I’d always find you.” Crawling into the circle of his arms, he felt like her Flynn. “And think about it this way. We have a chance to fall in love all over again. Maybe I’ll even get the chance to woo you properly this time. Without burning down a city in the process.”

Too tired to argue with herself, she tugged him down to lay behind her on the bed. “Doubtful. You never do anything halfway, Garcia Flynn.”

“Well considering the universe wanted us to fall in love twice, I guess I’ll need to step up my game.” He wrapped his free arm around her stomach. “Tell me how I wooed you the first time.”  

She twisted around to face him. “You used me as a human shield and shot Lincoln.”

Garcia Flynn burst out laughing. “That’s sounds about right. I promise to do better this time.”

“Don’t you dare.”

 


End file.
